Like the great lioness standing behind her cub, we give birth to our ideas - we give the divine inspiration within us form - and become the fierce force of nature which passionately expresses it and moves it out into the world so it may be shared with others for the highest good of all.

On Tuesday the 18th, at 8:41 p.m., MDT, we arrive at the new moon in Leo.  Mercury, ruler of the mind, thoughts, and communication, will be sitting with the sun (light of consciousness) and the moon (the subconscious and feelings) for this event, and the trio will be receiving a boost from Mars in fellow fire sign Aries. 

Leo is a sign of creative self-expression, and Mars in Aries ups the passion, motivation, and fire to get out there and get it going.  

The challenge with this new moon comes via Mars being in square to Saturn still retrograde in its own sign of Capricorn.  (Read more about Saturn retrograde in Capricorn here.)  

Capricorn rules over structures and systems like our social, financial, governmental, political, and educational systems.  On the personal level, it rules over the systems we create in our own lives. 

Saturn is the Roman  god of the harvest.  Saturn rules over fear, doubt, illness, restrictions, limits, boundaries, skin, bones, teeth, authority, discipline, responsibility, and rules. 

In retrograde, it is reviewing and reworking our relationship to those things in our lives.  When we are working with Saturn, we are being called to take the responsibility that enables us to be in our own authority.  Saturn shows us how to make our dreams reality - it shows us how to work within the parameters of the 3D world and be successful.  When we are working with Saturn, we move beyond seeing the rules and boundaries as limiting and restricting, and move into understanding how having our own structures, systems, rules, and boundaries in place actually keep us and that which we value most, safe and protected.  We run into problems when we try to take shortcuts or skip the required basics when working with Saturn because Saturn is the energetic force that demands we create in a way that honors the 3D world and will be solid and have longevity and meaning.  

If we put all of the creative fire and passion that comes with Tuesday's new moon into Saturn's strong and sturdy container, we will find ourselves winning, and this wave may carry us forward quite far into the future.

The new moon is positive, but Mars square Saturn is not easy energy, and it has everything to do with the more challenging aspects we have faced this year so far. 

Mars is the warrior and Saturn is authority - it might feel like running into a military road block.  (These days, you might actually run into a military road block!)  Mars can be volatile, and Saturn just throws on the brakes and says no.  And this is the first out of three of these Mars-Saturn squares, so this is ongoing.  Paying attention to what comes up now will clue us in to how its going to be resurfacing on hit #2 (the review of the issues), and hit #3 (the resolution).  (Read more about Mars in Aries and Mars retrograde here.)

Hold on to these new moon vibes - all of that creative passion is a gift right now which we can hold up as a torch to light our pathway forward, even if we cannot run with it just yet like we want.  We are still wrapping up a little unfinished business with Pluto and Saturn at the end of Capricorn over this fall.  Remember that Saturn wants strong structure and a container, and Pluto asks for evolution - what they are teaching us now will prepare us for what's ahead, we only need know how to listen.

Love & Gratitude,
Kasey

When we become aware of our shadow, when we gain that consciousness, we cannot just un-know what we now know.  We are pulled forward, pulled down into our own underworlds somehow.  Even if we have made a conscious choice to face our shadow, we somehow were never counting on that shadow, not in that way.  And we get tempted farther and farther down, while thinking we have everything under control, and suddenly, when its too late, we realize we have reached the point of no return.  ​

We know Erishkigal's overwhelming pain and suffering, the pain and suffering of the shadow that never ceases.  The pain and suffering of being locked away, unheard, labeled unacceptable.  

When we journey to meet our shadows, whether by choice or not, others often do not understand our journey.  More than that, our journey to our own underworld brings up fear and discomfort in them, as in acknowledging our plight, they must acknowledge their own.  

Enki, God of Wisdom, has instructed these creatures carrying to Inanna the new beliefs for new life, to witness the shadow - to bear witness to Erishkigal's cries by repeating them back to her.  How does it feel, when our shadow is not dismissed, not locked away, but actually heard?  How fast does our overwhelming pain and suffering subside?  Even if we are not understood.  Just being heard interrupts our negative feedback loop and gives a way out. 

Witnessing is the first step to take with ourselves or another after experiencing trauma.  Trauma, when dismissed and minimized, quickly begins morphing into all sorts of dis-ease, such as depression, anxiety, and worse.  

Inanna went to meet her shadow, but she never paused to witness it.  And she ended up on meet hooks.  

Enki new the wisdom in witnessing, and the healing it would bring.  

Sometimes in the turmoil of our own transformation, we end up initiating someone close to us, someone, who, like Dumuzi, seems uncaring, but in truth, is most likely in denial out of fear.  

After her demons are satisfied and Dumuzi is carried off to the underworld, Inanna, realizes her true, unconditional love for her consort.  And because she has met her shadow and because she has been reborn to a new consciousness, whole unto herself, she has become ruler of both light and dark, because her shadow is now on-side.  Inanna has the power now to work a deal with the underworld, and to ease Dumuzi's fate, as his sister also loves him greatly, and agrees to take his place in the underworld for half of each year while he is with Inanna.  

Yet another is initiated to the underworld, this time willingly, out of love for her brother.  

In the end, the myth of Inanna's Descent tells us that to be in our true, full power, and to be in true relationship with others, we will eventually have to meet our own shadows and the shadows of our loved ones, and that meeting our shadows with kindness and compassion, bearing witness to the fear and pain we all suffer is the healing that we all need to reclaim the thrones of our hearts and become rulers of both the light and dark of our realms.  

~Kasey

This brought even more importance to Gemini and Mercury as Venus prepared to station retrograde there.  This is because the north node is the point that points the way - it is "where we are growing to."  It's a point of increase, destiny, and growth, which shows us the pathway forward. 

​With the north node in Gemini, Mercury, Gemini's ruler, becomes more important as it becomes the "spokesperson" or "ambassador" for the north node transiting Gemini - our guiding light.  ​

On May 29th, Mercury left Gemini and entered Cancer.  

Mercury stationed retrograde on 6/17, just before Venus stationed direct in Gemini on 6/25, so that their retrogrades overlapped.  Then on 6/27, Mars entered Aries for an almost unheard of stay of six months (it usually takes two months for Mars to transit one sign).  

Mercury rules the mind, thoughts, and communication, and is known as "the messenger".  Mercury, never too far from the sun astrologically (since it is between the earth and sun), moves through the zodiac the most quickly out of all of the planets, and has the most frequent retrogrades - three-four per year. 

It is fitting then, that we would benefit from more frequent reviews and edits of the things Mercury rules over - our thinking, thoughts, words, and communications.  

Mercury was retrograde this time in Cancer.  Cancer is the moon-ruled water sign connected with the past, childhood past, the mother, tribe, family, home, sense of belonging, ancestors, how we feel nurtured and safe and cared for, and our emotions - specifically our innate emotional reactions that originate deep in our subconscious that are a result of our past and ancestry.  

So, Mercury (the mind) retraced its steps (went retrograde) through the subconscious, emotions, and past (Cancer).  This means we have had the opportunity to look at (with the intellect) some deeply rooted behaviors and emotions, and how they affect our words, thoughts, and communications.  

Venus did the same thing (retraced its steps) in Gemini (Mercury's sign), but Venus rules love and money in our lives - technically, Venus rules our self-value and by way of that, our ability to align with and attract into our lives those things which we most desire.  Venus rules the feminine energy that resides within all of us, and our ability to attract and receive what we desire (as opposed to going after it - that's Mars energy - the masculine energy that resides within all of us).  

These two transits intertwined are helping us weave a new tapestry of belief around ourselves, our value of ourselves, and thus how that new version of ourselves weaves into the larger tapestry of our world and the universe. 

​Mercury helped us become aware of and clear out old emotions and the accompanying behavioral patterns, whether learned or handed down or from past experiences and wounds.  Venus helped us to see more clearly the truth of who we are, and to recognize our inherent and innate worth, and then weave that new tapestry of belief based on this new clarity.  

Now our attention is turning to the strong energy Mars is stirring up as it transits its own sign of Aries for six months and prepares to go retrograde on September 10th.  This is yet another turning inward and review, this time of our sense of self, our boundaries, our self-assertion, and our ability to go after what we desire directly. 

Mars is the sword that severs - the anger that rises up when we feel we need to protect, defend, or "draw a line.  It is also our passion.  Mars energy is an energy that requires careful handling, lest we cut ourselves off from too much, or numb ourselves to the point we cannot access our anger or passion. 

​Mars retrograde helps us better understand this energy within ourselves and our relationship to it.  Because Mars and Aries represent the self (Aries is the opposite sign of Venus-ruled Libra, the sign of "other," and relationship), now we are taking this new sense of self and self-worth gained during Venus' retrograde and reworking our relationship to Mars energy, bringing that into alignment with all the recent internal shifts that have taken place.

Right now, as Venus moves out of Gemini and into Cancer, and we shift our focus to the upcoming Mars retrograde, the Sumerian myth of Inanna's Descent - the myth that is associated with Venus retrograde (Inanna was the Sumerian predecessor of the Roman Venus) holds timely wisdom.  I have written about it previously in "Venus Retrograde in Gemini:  Rewiring Your Self-Worth," and "Venus Direct and Inanna's Journey Home,"  and will be diving into that myth and its relevance to the current astrology more in the near future.  

~Kasey